Mix Masters.

THE L.A. STUDIOS, WHICH SPECIALIZES IN SOUND FOR COMMERCIALS, MOVIES AND TV SHOWS, ATTRACTS CUSTOMERS WITH FUNKY OFFICES AND SERVICE THAT INCLUDES CHIPS AND MARGARITAS FOR CLIENTS

THE staff of The L.A. Studios Inc. can't wait for the Super Bowl.

It doesn't matter that Los Angeles doesn't have its own pro football franchise or that there won't be any big-city markets playing in this year's game. Like many who watch the Super Bowl each year, company officials are a lot more interested in the commercials.

This year, The L.A. Studios will be engineering the audio tracks, voiceovers and sound effects for the Budweiser and Electronic Data Systems commercials.

"Most of our mixers are football fans, and when you see a commercial you worked on (broadcast) during the Super Bowl, you feel like a million bucks," said Jesse P. Meli, L.A. Studios president and chief operating officer.

For this year's Jan. 30 contest, advertisers are shelling Out a record $2 million for each 30-second spot, so production values must be just right. For employees at The L.A. Studios, that means a jam-packed schedule and round-the-clock work.

"Advertisers literally wait all year to spend their top dollars on the spot they're going to produce for the Super Bowl," said Nancy Koch, executive producer at Kowloon Wholesale Seafood Co., a Santa Monica ad agency that frequently works with L.A. Studios. "They want to make sure the spot they produce for the Super Bowl is the absolutely best spot they can do. They will call ahead of time to everyone, including the sound mixers, to make sure they have the best people lined up."

Started as one-room operation

As late as last week, The L.A. Studios was talking to other Super Bowl advertisers about working on their spots while juggling a blitz of regular requests from dot-coms and other high-tech companies - including Microsoft Corp. and PlanetRX.com.

Started in 1980 as a one-room operation, L.A. Studios is now the parent company of several post-production houses located throughout L.A., including the original L.A. Studios in Universal City, Margarita Mix Hollywood, Margarita Mix de Santa Monica, and Zona Playa in Santa Monica. Five years ago, the company had just two locations, 39 employees and revenues of $7 million; now it has 60 employees and projects revenues of $11.8 million for 2000.

The studios do just about everything related to audio, and not just for commercials. Film and TV work includes voiceovers for shows on the Disney Channel and sound work for MTV's allmusic and sound effects biography show, "BIOrhythms."

Diversification allows the company to survive when one sector is going through a slow period, Meli said. It also relies on creative office spaces to attract and keep clients and employees.

Margarita Mix Hollywood, for example, features a Mexican hacienda, replete with exotic stone and wooden carvings, woven throw blankets and a cobblestone parking lot. There's even Corona in the fridge, and at each recording session clients can help themselves to chips, salsa and margaritas.

"You don't find many places like Margarita Mix: It's a fun time," Koch said. "When we say we're going to the mixer's, the client says, 'Is it at that great Margarita Mix place?"'

Going to middle markets

The company's latest venture is a strategic partnership with a studio in Dallas. It's taken five years to develop the technology and perfect the system, but now recordings can be sent back and forth digitally between the two studios over a dedicated TI line.

"We decided to go to middle markets first, which often have to fly to L.A. to mix," Meli explained. "It's as if they were here mixing. They still get the royal treatment, and the advantage of L.A.'s talent and mixing pool."

If the friendly, laid-back atmosphere isn't enough to keep The L.A. Studios' turnover low, management decided in 1995 to give employees an even greater reason to stay on: a 42 percent ownership stake through an employee stock ownership plan, as well as profit-sharing and a pension plan.

The company also holds quarterly full-staff meetings where everyone from the receptionist to Meli gives input on new ideas. There are staff-only parties and a kitchen stocked with almost every beverage known to man, plus snacks from M&Ms to gum.

The original L.A. Studios office in Universal City will be transformed this year from a hip, urban jungle splashed with animal prints to a Polynesian "island international." Responding to client demand, The L.A. Studios last year launched Margarita Mix de Santa Monica.

The company places a heavy accent on customer service. The firm will fill all kinds of unusual food requests from customers, and even accommodated one celebrity who demanded professional makeup before a voice-recording session.

"Our philosophy is 'No problem,'" Meli said. "No one is ever allowed to say no to the client. And you have to laugh or smile at least 10 times a day."

Spotlight

The L.A. Studios Inc.

Year Founded: 1980

Core Business: Providing audio and post-production services to the entertainment, advertising and multimedia industries

Revenue in 1995: $7 million

Revenue in 1999: $9.5 million

Projected Revenue in 2000: $11.8 million

Employees in 1995: 39

Employees in 2000: 60

Goal: To provide the latest in sound solutions with a comfortable edge and to continually raise the bar to stay ahead of the competition

Driving Force: Unique mixing locations, customer-service focus